09 April, 2016

The good scenario against “robo-Capitalism”

by system failure

In previous articles we have
examined various scenarios, all of them Dystopian, on how things
could evolve in future due to the rapid rise of hyper-automation.
Today, hyper-automation contributes significantly to one of the
biggest problems, which is the accelerated increase of unemployment.

We have defined as
"robo-Capitalism" the situation in which all the economy
and research will be guided by the need for increasingly efficient
machines. This means, more or less, that human needs will become
irrelevant for the elites who eventually will end to control all the
resources and the means of production.

But, is there any alternative to
this situation? Could things evolve differently, in a non-Dystopian
way?

During the last three-four
decades, we have experienced one of the most fascinating
technological innovations in human history: the rise of computers and
the internet. What we observed, is a rapid spread of this technology
worldwide, mostly because of one of the most fundamental
characteristics of classic capitalism: the chase for profit through
competition. The technology escaped from the hands of governments,
agencies, universities, and became accessible to most of the people
in the developed world, while still being expanded in other
geographical areas.

Should we expect something similar
to happen with robots in the oncoming decades?

It is not certain. That's because
the conditions now are quite different. In the past decades, the need
for profit made companies to spread the technology rapidly in the
societies. It was invented mostly in state-owned institutions and the
private sector took it to exploit it.

Especially during the 90s, many
small-medium businesses in the United States flourished and drove the
technology forward. The significant number of competitors of all
sizes pushed the prices down and the technology became approachable
to millions of people in many countries.

However, at the same time, the
power of big corporations was growing fast. They were promoting their
interests by penetrating, more than ever, in every key decision
center. The philosophy of the small-medium companies has changed.
Now, most of those who build a new product, are seeking to sell their
company to the biggest companies which create cartels and monopolies.
The 2008 crisis made things worse, as the period of "easy money"
officially terminated and the small-medium sector became an even
easier victim to the corporate monsters.

A significant part of the research
has been privatized and under current circumstances, it would be
natural to expect that the big private companies would keep the new
technology for themselves in order to impose the new conditions.
There are plenty of strong signs that the elites are breaking the social contract and design a kind of global
Feudalism. TTIP-type agreements, the Greek experiment, and, the cruel
neoliberal measures being imposed even in economically advanced
areas, like eurozone, are some of these signs.

Yet, the alternative, good
scenario to this Dystopian future may come from the "inside".

The thirst for more power and
profit may drive the biggest companies into a new cycle of fierce
competition. Furthermore, it may not be that easy for them to keep
the monopoly of technology too long. Eventually the technology of
hyper-automated machines will escape from the monopolies, and a new
sequence of small-medium businesses will become active in the field.
Soon, we could see a similar scenario to that of the computers and
the internet. However, in this case the impact to the societies will
be much more profound. If hyper-automated machines become more and
more cheap and accessible to millions of households, it could
seriously boost the quality of life for millions of people into
unprecedented levels.